Dylan Murray
Chris Kyle's widow once recalled the text message she received moments before her husband's death, leaving her in floods of tears as she remembered how worried it made her.
Chris Kyle, best known as the 'American Sniper', was tragically shot and killed back in 2013, leaving behind his wife and two children.
The United States Navy SEAL sniper - who was portrayed by Bradley Cooper in the 2014 Clint Eastwood film American Sniper - died alongside his friend, Chad Littlefoot, at the hands of ex-Marine Eddie Ray Routh, who shot the pair 13 times in total.
The trio had gone to a shooting range together, with Kyle sponsoring Routh and attempting to aid the ex-Marine through his struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Kyle - one of the deadliest snipers in US history - was asked by Routh’s mother to aid her son through such struggles in whatever way he could, knowing Kyle also suffered from PTSD himself.
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However, Kyle quickly began feeling uneasy about Routh, and his attempt to help the then-26-year-old eventually cost the 'American Sniper' his own life.
After his tragic death, Kyle's widow Taya Kyle revealed that Chris had actually called her on that fateful day.
Kyle was said to have sounded irritated by whatever situation he was in, and when she later tried to text him to ask for an update, she received no response, causing her to worry further about her husband's status.
Eventually, Taya was greeted by police officers who alerted her of what had happened.
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In the fallout from Routh’s double murder, numerous text conversations between Kyle and his friends and family members were unveiled, painting a picture of what seemed to have transpired on that day.
Both parties were seemingly uncomfortable with one another, with Kyle texting his friend right next to him about his concerns, so as to not alert Routh to the conversation.
"This dude is straight up nuts," Kyle texted to Littlefoot.
As a response, Littlefoot texted Kyle back by saying: “He's right behind me, watch my six.”
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These messages between Littlefoot and Kyle weren’t seen by Taya until after her husband had passed, though they seemed to fill her with grief and sadness upon being brought up during Routh’s 2015 murder trial.
As for Routh, the former Marine’s defense was that he, too, feared for his life while riding with Littlefoot and Kyle, as the two did not speak to him much and generally made him feel uneasy.
Upon investigation by a forensic psychologist, it was concluded that Routh believed that the two men had a plan to kill him, leading him to murder them both as a result.
Eventually, Routh was found guilty of murdering both men in February 2015, being sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.